Xref: utzoo can.politics:1977 can.francais:74
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!alberta!calgary!cpsc!freedman
From: freedman@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Daniel Freedman)
Newsgroups: can.politics,can.francais
Subject: Re: Notwithstanding clause -- truly a sad day for Canada
Message-ID: <370@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 88 06:02:08 GMT
References: <1988Dec13.133220.28851@lsuc.uucp> <4321@hcr.UUCP> <809@auvax.UUCP> <560@cavell.UUCP>
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In article <560@cavell.UUCP>, gilles@alberta.UUCP (Gilles Simon Dionne) writes:
> ...Would you not be bothered by the fact that the
> merchants didn't have the decency to advertise in your language(English)?

	Have you ever been to a REAL Chinese restaurant in Chinatown
in Calgary?  Although much of the menu is written in English, much of
it is in Chinese only.  Often times, the staff don't speak very good
English, and you have to stumble along with words like "noodle",
"pork", etc.  As far as I'm concerned, this is all part of the fun of
eating in Chinatown.  I have lived in Britain, and travelled to
Europe.  In many places in Europe (ie: away from the tourist traps),
the people *dont* speak English.  You have to get along, experiencing
the culture of the people in the land you are in.

	Now, when I look at my box of cereal, it already has both
English and French on it, so Canada already has some provision for
making sure that at least some things are communicated in both
official languages.  Why would merchants in Quebec actively *not*
communicate in French if they have a French clientele?  I guess some
of them could be being bloody-minded, but that kind of thinking
doesn't make for good business.  So, where there is a predominantly
French speaking customer base, I would presume that merchants
communicate in French (possibly also in English).  On the other hand,
if you are a French person living in a mostly English-speaking town,
you should expect to see a lot of English and not a lot of French.
The same goes for English people in French towns, or either kind of
people living in Chinatown!

	Finally, who is this bill trying to protect?  The English
speaking people presumably are not being protected (although clearly
they are being affected).  The French merchants can only possibly be
being protected from themselves, since if they really wanted to
continue speaking French, presumably they would (and yes, maybe they
would learn English too, so that they could attract English
customers).  If there really is a call for things being communicated
in French, presumably both English and French speaking merchants would
try to attract business by communicating in French (again, possibly as
well as English).  So that leaves the French speaking consumer.  Are
there not enough French speaking consumers to be attractive to
businesses in French speaking communities?  In the same way that if
people care about Canadian industries, they buy Canadian products,
people who are concerned about having French survive as a language
will speak French out of choice.  And because of this, merchants
interested in keeping their business will make French available as a
language of communication.

	I think that French can only die out if the French speaking
people stop using it.  I think that Bill 101 is an attempt by some
people to force others to use a language that they don't want to use,
since if they did want to use it, the bill would be unnecessary.
Finally, I think that living in Calgary, I am an aweful long way away
from the situation, and am possibly missing some vital link which
allows me to see why Quebec wants to infringe on people's basic
rights.  Would somebody please call me an idiot, and at the same time
explain to me what it is that makes people in Quebec feel this way?
However, if you want to call me an idiot, then don't talk to me about
historical prejudice, deep feelings by both parties on unrelated
issues, or about people wanting to tell other people what's good for
them.  By all means tell me about those things if they are relevant,
but don't call me an idiot if those are the things that I have
"missed".  If it turns out that those are the real problems, and that
Bill 101 is just a symptom, then perhaps we should directly discuss
those problems rather than trying to justify Bill 101 in terms of
language or cultural issues.

Dan Freedman
University of Calgary Computer Science Department
2500 University Drive N.W.			      freedman@cpsc.UCalgary.CA
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4	                   ...!alberta!calgary!freedman